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May .26 31. c. Fs -c mELz 8 6, 50

' SHADE ROLLER Filed-0ct- 4.1929

INVENTOR.

Patented May 26, 1931 Uurrsn sr raisin" OFFICE.

CHARLES E. SCHMELZ, OF BRIDGEPGPT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO STAY-PUT SHADE ROLLER CORPORATION, OF BBIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF GON- NECTIGUT sirens ROLLER Application filed Gctober a, was. Serial No. eraser.

This invention relates to shade rollers such as are generally used in connection with windows, and it has for its principal object the provision of a device which obviates many of the deficiencies and annoyances inhere-ntin the shade rollers heretofore used.

Shade roller device in common use is provided with a torsional spring which is tensioned increasingly in proportionto the. distance to which the shade is pulled down, and which serves to rewind the shade when the roller is released from its detaining members by jerking the shade. But, the shade roller, made in accordance with the present invention, has no such spring device. WVith it the shade may be pulled down smoothly, and its end will stay exactly whereit is left when the pull is discontinued. The shade is raised by a separate cord wound on a spool'which rotates with the roller, anc. it will remain eX- actly where it is when the pull on the cord is discontinued. Thus, shades at adjacentwindows may be raised or lowered to bring the ends exactly in line with each other, as fas tidious persons are wont to do, with ease, a thing notoriously diflicult with spring-rewound shade devices.

feature of this invention is the provision of means for frictionally holding the shade in any adjacent position by means which automatically becomes inoperative while the shade is being pulled up by the cord-operated rewinding device so as not to add any burden to the re'winding operation.

Another feature of his lnvention is the provision of a shade-rewinding device, all parts of which are mounted on the bracket for the shade roller, there being merely a clutch between the bracket-carried parts and the roller, so as to permit the economic manufacture of the device and easy installation; and anotherfeature is the provision of a clutch between the bracket-carried parts and the shade roller which is of such construction as to support the shade roller on the bracket, although, in some forms of the invention, it is preferable to have. in addition, a trunnion pin on the roller fitting a socket on the bracket for the parts carried thereby.

And still another feature of this invention is the provision of means for holding a shade rewinding spool, which is mounted on the bracket, against rotating in a direction which would tend to cause the cord thereof to unwind from the spool when the shade and roller are removed from the bracket.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. v

in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the inventi0n- Figure 1 is an enlarged side view of my improved shade roller partly in section and supported on a window casing.

Fig. 2 isa section on line 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a View of the bracket which carriesthe mechanism for operating the roller, and which is here shown as it appears when the roller has been removed therefrom.

Fig. 5 is an end view of the shade roller per se, as indicated by line 5 of Fig. 1. 7

Briefly stated, the shade roller comprises, in its general entity, three principal elements, viz the roller per se, which carries the shadefabric and is, as usual, attached thereto at which is operated by the mechanism for rotat- 7 ing the roller either to raise or lower the shade, while the other end constitutes the support for the dead or idle end of the roller having no function other than removably carrying that roller-end and acting as a journal or hearing therefor.

. Referring to the present invention, the roller 10 consists substantially of a cylindrical member which may be made of wood or metal as preferred, and which carries the shade 11, one end of which is secured to the roller in any suitable manner, and which maybe rolled up on the same, or pulled down,

as the case may be. On its dead end, the roller (low-casing and having a slot or opening 15 to permit its ready insertion or removal.

The device illustrated in Fig. l is sup ported by the brackets located in the runways for the inner or lower sash of the window casing which latter has the usual parting strips 16 whereby the lower sash is guided in its vertical movement. The brackets may be attached to the window casing by suitable screws (not shown) passing through apertures or perforations 17 provided for that purpose. It will, therefore, be understood, that the roller, as shown, is lying direc l} above and in the same vertical plane with the lower sash and in the upper portion of the casing, so as not to interfere with the upward movement of the sash, which movement may be limited by projecting stops 18 formed by bending the metal plate of which the bracketis made, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The live oropposite end of the roller is in; directly supported by bracket 20 which is secured to the opposite portion of the casing and which carries a mechanism whereby the roller may rotated positively in opposite directions to lower or raise the shade as required. This end of the roller is provided with a trunnion pin 21 centrally located on the roller end and passing through a central perforation provided therefor in the ferrule 22 disposed on the roller end, as shown.

l he pin 21 is provided with a shoulder or collar 23 for limiting its insertion into the roller and it also has a projecting trunnionsion 24 provided with a conical end 2? to facilitate its entrance into a sleeve orbearing member 26, when the roller is to be placed into the brackets. The sleeve or shell 26 is preferably in screw-threaded engagement with a hub 27 which is formed by piercing and drawing the base plate of "he bracket 21. into a condition substantially as shown in Fin. 1, hub being an integral pa rt of the plate, and possess-- ing. therefore, great strength and rigidity. slot 26 formed in the end of the shell permits the use of a screw-driver for screwing the shell into or out of the hub 27.

Normally, free rotation of the roller is resisted by a braking device which is prinn'n rily intended to counteract the weight of the lo\ \'nhanging portion of the shade and the shade-stick 28 whereto apulling-down cord is usually attached. This brake constitutes in its preferred form a part of a spool coin-- prising a guard or flange 30 which has a neckportion forming a drum on which the raising cord 32 (to be hereinafter referred to) w'll be wound-up when the shade is pulled down. The neck 31 of the flange 30 its tightly on the annular hub portion 32 of a companion flange 33 of the cord spool, whose periphery is cupped at 34- to receive a cam ring 35 rotatable therein and having cam faces 36 respectively engaged by rollers or disks 3'? which are confined within the free space bounded by said cam faces 36 and the outer surface of the bracket hub 27 above mentioned. As a matter of fact, three of these disks 37 are preferably used, the entire device constituting a roller clutch of wellknown construction and operation, one of the disks being always in position to operate in checking the movement of the cam ring 35 in the direction of arrow A.

The flanges 30 and 33 are corotatively connected by prongs 30a of the flange 3.0, entering perforations 33a in the flange 33, where they may be spot-welded and the spool thus formed may be coupled to the roller 10 by ribs 37 formed by lancing and punching certain portions of the flange 30 in the manner illustrated in Fi 1 and 4 of the drawing. These nibs 37 are adapted to enter suitable perforations 38 provided therefor in the ferrule above described, eight perforations being illustrated, four of them being engaged at the same time by the set of four nibs 37, as will be readily understood. By virtue of this construction, the roller 10, when being placed in position on the bracket, is capable of assuming eight different positions of engagement with the nibs 37, so that it requires only a maximum rotation of 45 degrees relative to the perforations 38, by the roller to establish connection between these two parts.

It will be understood that, when the roller 10 is rotated by pulling the shade down, both flanges 30 and will. move in the same direction and in unison with the roller. In order to cause the cam ring 35 to move with the flange 33 during this corotation, means are provided f0: establishing a frictional driving connection between the cam ring 35 and the flange 33, this means consisting, in the preferred form thereof shown, of a spring disk or washer 40 having a central aperture 4. .1

(see Fig. 1) for passing over the hub 24 or the base plate. This spring washer is forced against the left face of the cam-ring 35 (as viewed in Fig. 1) by one or more adjusting shims or washers 4-2, it being evident that the more shims or Washers 42 used, the greater will be the pressure exerted by the outer peripheral portions of the spring disks 40 against the outer face of the cam ring 35.

In order to resist this spring action, which naturally would tend to inovethe entire spool longitudinally toward the right of the hub 27, the sleeve 26 has a head flange 26a which is seated firmly against the outer end of the hub 27 and overlaps the cylindrical hub 32 of the flange 33, so that, therefore, the location of the spool in its entirety on the hub 27 will always be the same longitudinally thereof.

By referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the spring disk 40 is preferably made in the form of a spider having resilient arms, preferably six in number, three of which are locked with their outer ends pressing against the cam loo . in the flange 34, this construction being instrumental in causing the friction spider to: move with the flange 30, so that when the cam ring 35 is stopped against rotation with the roller, both sides of the same are frictionally engaged, andthe braking effect will, due to the friction established between these three parts,

be doubled as compared. with the effectwhich 7 would exist if the spring spider 40 werev free from its'drive-connection with the flange 30. This means that the pressure-exerted against the sides of the cam ring may be correspond ingly less, and the efliciency of the entire de vice as to braking effect will be considerably enhanced.

It is preferable that the friction required to hold the shade roller against rotation by the weight of the shade itself be proportionate to such weight which naturally depends upon the width of the shade, and also upon the maximum length of the shade which may be pulled down from the roller; but when once determined, it will remain constant, a feature which is not found in the. devices used heretofore. I v I In Fig. 1," the shade is illustrated being rolled up high on the roller, while the spool cord is illustrated as being entirely unwound, and hanging loose, it being held in comparatively strai ht condition preferably by a small tassel 50 (see Fig.2). When the shade is now pulled down, the cord will be wound up on the drum 31, and in the space between the flanges 30 and 33. Then, a pull on the cord will cause the spool to rotate in the direction of arrow B, therefore carrying the cam ring along with it and consequently relieving the'disks 37 (which the cam ring against rotation in the other direction) from all action, that is to say: they are simply carried around loose within the pockets 35a opening into the space in the cam ring, without producing any braking effect.

The cord 32 is attached to the spool by passing it through a'perforation 51 provided for that purpose in the flange 30, and leaving the knotted end 52 of the cord on the outside of the flange, the construction herein illustrated bringing the initial convolution of the cord, as it is wound on the drum, into direct contact with the drum 31 and also closely against the flange 30, so that it will be wound on evenly and snugly, a feature which is very desirable and will be assisted by the weight of the tassel above referred.

' When the shade has'been lowered or unrolled from the roller, it will naturally have the greatest weight, which, under ordinary conditions, will make it morediflioult to pull the shade'up, but, in view of the fact that when the shade isin lowered condition, the outermost convolution of the cord on the spool will be at its greatest distance from the center of its rotation, so that, therefore, the inherent leverage produced by such organization at that time will counteract the weightof the shade and a very slight pull on the cord will be sufficient to roll the shade up.

Furthermore, as the shade is being pulled up, its down-hanging length naturally becomes shorter and its weight becomes, therefore, gradually less. At the sametime, the cord is correspondingly unwound from the spool and the point of pull approaches the center of the spool gradually and proportionately. In any event, the two factors are so proportion-ed as practically to equalize each other so that the actual resistance offered to the pull on the cord remains practically the same throughout. As above referred to, the frictional resistance to the down-pull of the shadeis, by means of the shims 42, gaged to offset the weight of downhanging or unrol led length of the shade, that is to say: it must be sufficient to hold the roller against being rotated by the weight of the shade, so that it must always require a pull to lower it. Now, inasmuch as the frictionalresistance remains always the same, the strength of pull required to pull the shade down will vary proportionately to the weight- .a

pull exerted by the dIown-ha-nginglength of the shade, this weight-pull naturally increasing as the shade is being pulled down. This, then, means: that the required hand-pull becomes gradually less, because it is assisted by the weight of the shade.

The brake mechanism above described is designed to produce the necessary resistance tothe pull of the weight of the shade, but, as stated, it is effective only when the roller tends to rotate'in the direction of arrow A (see Fig. 3).

Sometimes it may be desirable or necessary to remove the roller from its supporting brackets, as for instance when the windows are to be washed, or the shades are to be cleaned, etc. In that case, the spool would be free to be rotated in the direction of arrow 13 by the weight of the cord and its tassel,

and thus disarrange the propercord-length primarily determined upon. The present invention has, therefore, for anotherofits aims to provide means for counteracting this tendency without, however, addingmaterially to the pull on the cord necessary to raise the shade. Practice has demonstrated that this minor friction is established by. the contact of frictional engagement between the spool and the supporting bracket, as follows I i As abovestated, the spring washer or spider 40 which rests with its central portion against the shims 42, exerts a pushing force against the cam ring 35 and, consequently, against the flange 33, therefore crowding the outer end of the hub 32 against the head-flange 26a, and thus creating a frictional contact between these parts. In addition to this, frictional contact exists, indirectly, between-the spider (which is corotatively connected with the spool flange 32) andthe face of the stationary support-bracket 20, both frictional engagements being located near the center of support and therefore having only a minor efficiency as compared with the major frictional efliciency exercised upon the peripheral portions of the spider and the flange 32 upon the sides of the cam ring 35, the hub-friction being sufiicient to prevent the spool from being pulled around by the cord and its weight-tassel 50.

In devices of this kind, the cost of manufacture which comprises the cost of the raw material, the labor required to bring the raw material into finished condition, and the assembling of the finished parts into unity, must be taken into consideration, in order to bring the cost of the entire proposition down to a minimum, and it is for this reason that the present invention embodies and provides parts such as can be very accurately made by the stamping process. Such parts are naturally made with tools which permit production in large quantities and the parts come from the tools requiring practically no finishing. It is for this reason that the entire worlo ing unit of the present invention, including the bracket, can be readily assembled without the requirement of adjusting any of the parts relative to each other, except as hereinbefore stated when referring to the shims 42.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to obtain Letters-Patent, is v 1. In a device of the character described comprising a shade roller having a trunnion, a shade-raising unit mounted on a support for rotatably supporting and operating said roller and having a socket for the roller trunnion, and cooperating clutch nieans on the roller and unit for rotatably and detachably connecting the roller and unit.

2. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit mounted on a support for detachably supporting and operating said roller, said unit including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller.

3. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit mounted on a support for detachably supporting and operating said roller and including a spool upon whicha cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller, and a clutch between said cord spool and. the shade roller for causing them to rotate in unison in both directions.

l. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit mounted on a support for detachably supporting and operating said roller and including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller, a clutch between said spool and the roller for causing the spool and roller to rotate in unison in both directions, and means for frictionally holding the cord spool and shade roller against a tendency to rotate in a direction which causes lowering of the shade.

5. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit mounted on a support for detachably supporting and operating said roller and including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be wound upon the roller, a clutch between said cord spool and the shade roller for causing them to rotate in unison in both directions, and means for frictionally holding the spool against a tendency to rotate in either direction.

6. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit mounted on a support for detachably sup porting and operating said roller and includ ing a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwindin of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound noon the roller, means for detachably coupling said roller and spool for co-rotation, and means for frictionally holding the cord spool and shade roller against a tendency to rotate in a direction which causes lowering of the shade.

7. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the. shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller, a brake member normally rotatable with the spool, a fixed support, and a clutch between the brake device and the fixed support adapted to automatically lock the brake member against turning when the spool rotates in a direction which causes the shade to be unwound from said roller.

8. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller, said spool having acupped flange, a brakedevice rotatably mounted in the cupped portion of the flange, a stationary support having a boss, and clutch members located in the cupped portion of said flange and between cam-shaped surfaces on the brake memher and the boss on said stationary support to automatically lock the brake device against turning when the spool rotates in a direction which causes the shade to be unwound from said roller.

9. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller, a brake device rotatable with the spool,

means for holding the brake device against rotation, friction-producing means between the brake device and the spool, and means for varying the pressure of the friction-producing means.

10. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller, said spool having a flange, a brake device rotatable with the spool, a fixed support, a clutch for locking said device against rotation in the shade-lowering direction, and

disposed between the brake device and the fixed support, and a spring carried by the flange and adapted to yieldingly urge the brake device against the flange on the spool.

11. In a device of the character described having a shade roller, a shade-raising unit including a spool upon which a cord is wound so that the unwinding of the cord causes the shade to be raised by being wound upon the roller, said spool having a flange, a brake 

